Monday December 01 2008 11:04:25 CST
An occasional letter from the office of the chaplain
of the Order of Ecumenical Franciscans
Click here for previous editions of The Three Knots
Francistide
The last day of September. Francistide. A silver mist dispersed, leaving behind a lustre as if the gold dust of a completed harvest hung in the air. There was a meeting and a greeting and a grieving and a healing as we held out in faith hand hand the broken pieces of ourselves to one another for a blessing it was as if, finding the inner door ajar, the Lord came in. Take this, eat and drink this, He said, giving Himself, broken and yet made whole there, as we passed from hand to hand the paten and the cup.
--Gabrielle Billings, TSSF
Dear Sisters and Brothers of the OEF,
September marks the beginning of Francistide which will end on October 4th, St. Francis' Feast Day. These are high Holy Days for Franciscans, who choose to follow the Christ in the manner of Sts. Francis and Clare.
I have always believed that we would not have known Francis or Clare in 2007, nor would they have had such a profound ministry if one had been without the other. There is a story of the brothers convincing Francis to share a meal with Clare, so they have a picnic in the forest. It happens that the town's people looked up the hill and saw an orange glow coming from the vicinity of the convent. Fearful that it had caught fire they raced to save the holy sisters, but when the crowd arrived they found Francis, Clare and the brothers so enraptured in God's glory that they glowed. There they sat giving praise and thanks for all their blessings.
Their mystical, spiritual union was so immersed in the Christ, so flooded with prayer, so consumed by the Love of God, that the waves of Light they reflected can still be seen by us today.
We also know that there were logistical and administrative headaches for them as their movement grew. In the early days when their ideals, ideas and passions were fresh and new, it made it easier and to move around, work, wander through the hills to pray, sing songs of praise, preach to the people and all creation, and revel in the Love they had discovered in the life of poverty.
But, as the poor sisters and friars grew in number, so did the number of conflicts, different ideas, directions, and needs. Our own little Order has seen significant growth and change since its inception 24 years ago. There are more of us and we have all felt a calling here. What Francis said to the brothers at the end of his life was that he had done what was his to do and they were to figure out what it was for them to do.
We are the brothers and sisters that came after Francis and Clare. We are the ones that are figuring out what we are to do. We have all come here as people of faith, professing the Christ, in a variety of ways. We have all come here to the OEF because we are drawn to that mystical expression of living out the Christian way in the manner of a troubador of God and a woman of grace and prayer, both of whom loved deeply to the point of forsaking all things of earth save what they absolutely needed to still live (and even that was questionable.)
This will look differently for each of us. What we give up, what we take on, how the Franciscan chrism changes us and forms us will look different on the outside. We all wear the cross of San Damiano, but some will wear habits, some will wear sandals, some will be homeless, some will have houses. Some will marry, some will not. Some of us will not be able to gad about and will find their way through prayer, much like Clare. Some will be the wanderlusts for God, and others will preach to the birds. Some will sing, some will preach, some will remain in silence, some will shed tears.
But, we all come together around a common table, and even though we all define the ceremonies we join in differently, we remain one around this table where we partake of the Body and Blood of Christ. And it means something different to each of us. BUT, somehow the mystery of Christ speaks through this entire mosaic of the OEF I have just described and makes us ONE. We are ecumenical, but we have come together because there was something about that funny little man of Assisi and the poor little Clare that draws us together. Let us remember to pay attention to that detail, to what unifies us, giving each other the grace to move and explore, question and affirm our spiritual journeys, knowing that there is something much greater than ourselves, our ideas, or our beliefs that causes the forest to glow when we gather together in Love. May we always be able to sit together giving praise and thanks for all our blessings.
Sr. Magdalena
OEF Chaplain
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